Chicken Fried Steak

Charlie has been searching for Chicken Fried Steak like they had in the high school cafeteria and when I see a recipe that looks like it might be good, I try it out.  It was good but Charlie is still looking for his perfect Chicken fried steak.  This time I did one cube steak and one pork.

CHICKEN FRIED STEAK WITH COUNTRY GRAVY

INGREDIENTS

STEAKS:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 pounds cube steak

COUNTRY GRAVY:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1½ cups low sodium chicken or beef broth
• 1 cup milk
• salt and pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

PREPARE THE STEAKS:

• Heat olive oil and butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat until ripples begin to form.
  
• While the oil heats, whisk 1 cup flour, onion powder, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and water.
• Season the steaks with salt and pepper. Dredge one steak in the flour mixture, then the egg and then back in the flour mixture to coat.
• Add the steak to the skillet. Repeat with the remaining steaks adding more oil as needed. Work in batches if necessary as to not overcrowd the pan. (Overcrowding will cause the steaks to steam and the coating will not get crisp.) Cook the steaks for 3 to 4 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Flip the steaks and continue cooking for an additional 4 minutes until golden. Transfer the steaks to a platter or baking sheet and cover with foil to keep warm.
  

PREPARE THE GRAVY:

• Add butter to the skillet and sprinkle with flour. Whisk together in the pan and cook until golden. Slowly whisk in the chicken stock and continue cooking until thickened. Stir in the milk until smooth and beginning to thicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  
• Serve the steaks immediately with the gravy.

Chislic

A teacher where I taught was from South Dakota, and he introduced us to  Chislic which he said was a popular bar food in his home town.  One time I looked on the internet and it said it was skewered meat either fried or grilled and little known outside of South Dakota.  On a whim, while at Costco today, I got a boneless leg of lamb, not really knowing what I'd do with it but by the time I got home, I knew we were going to have grilled Chislic today... A decades long internet friend who recently passed away, always put a pinch or two of dry powdered Ranch dressing in the mayonnaise when she made deviled eggs.  Everyone except my son loves them that way.  Today I didn't tell him I put some in and he didn't notice.


These are the ingredients in the Chislic marinade.  I grilled them on the skewers.  The lamb legs yielded about 4 pounds.  We always add the Creole seasoning to ours.

1 pound boneless lamb leg, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

3/4 teaspoon chili powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Smoked a brisket today

I smoked today's brisket with oak wood, Texas style, seasoned with just salt and pepper.  

The last picture is the crispy end that was closest to the fire.  Arthur Bryant used to put these trimmings out for people to take and nibble on while waiting  in line to order.  They were very popular but he couldn't put them on the menu because this is about all there is on one brisket.  There were never enough to make complete servings for one without running out before they were open after a little bit.  After his death, someone reimagined his burnt ends by cubing the almost done  large end of the brisket, putting some more rub on it and a little sauce and finishing it in the smoker.  That is what you will get when you order burnt ends at any BBQ restaurant today.

Grilled Hot Wings

 GRILLED HOT WINGS Author: Martin
Here is the chicken after it had been grilled using off-set heat on the grill and the hot sauce with melted butter. I thought it might be less messy if we used it as a dipping sauce. I was wrong.  It was still messy.  

INGREDIENTS

• 3 lb whole chicken wings
• ¼ C BBQ rub  Used a store brand for beer can chicken
• 1 stick butter
• 12 oz cayenne pepper sauce, such as Crystal or Frank’s  Used Crystal hot sauce

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Light a large chimney full of charcoal. Once it is all lit, empty it into your grill. You want a hot bed that isn’t scorchingly-hot at the grill surface. Go for about 425°F (218°C).
• 
  
• Season your wings liberally with BBQ rub. Place them in a single layer on the grill and cook with the lid closed, turning them every 4 minutes. 
• 
  
• Meanwhile, heat the cayenne pepper sauce in a small saucepan until it reaches about 105°F (41°C) as measured on a Thermapen Mk4. Whisk the butter, cut into pats, into the sauce, heating slightly if it’s not hot enough to fully melt the butter. 

•   When the wings reach an internal temp no lower than 175°F (79°C),  remove them from the grill.  
• Place the wings in a large bowl, sauce  liberally, and toss.  
• 
  
• Dig in.

These wings are so delicious! The BBQ  seasoning adds depth that I frankly didn’t expect, and the sauce clings just perfectly to the skin of each piece. Biting in, you find that cooking to 175°F (79°C) using the Thermapen yields perfect texture inside. Of course, you don’t have to give up fried wings, but maybe save those for indoor-cooking months like, say, early February.

Now, in the heat of summer, grill your wings and enjoy.

Crusty Chicken Thighs with Mushroom Sauce

I came across a video of Jaques Pepin making soup from whatever he found in the refrigerator and he mentioned that he didn't throw away the chicken skins.  He crisped them up in the oven.  He didn't give any details on how he did it, he just had some that he broke up and added to the soup, like crackers.  I wanted to try that so I looked for his method of crisping up chicken skin and when I was looking, I found his recipe for crusty chicken thighs and decided I'd make that for dinner today.  I also came across a recipe for strawberry mousse.  I had not made that since before I met Charlie's mom so decided to make that too.  We had some kim che with it but it didn't make it into the picture.

Jacques Pepin’s Crusty Chicken Thighs with Mushroom Sauce

Yield: 4 servings

• 4 large chicken thighs, about 1 3/4 pounds total, skin on
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic
• 3 cups washed and diced white mushrooms or cremini mushrooms
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives or green portion of green onion

Procedure:

1. Arrange chicken thighs skin side down on a cutting board. Using a sharp paring knife, trim off any excess skin at the edges and cut about 1/2-inch deep into the flesh on either side of the thigh bone. (This will help the meat cook more quickly.) Sprinkle the thighs with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and arrange them skin side down in one layer in a nonstick skillet with a tight-fitting lid.

2. Place skillet over high heat and when thighs start sizzling reduce heat to medium, cover tightly and cook for 16 to 18 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure the chicken is browning properly. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 150 degrees. If chicken seems to be cooking too fast after 10 minutes or so, reduce heat to low. The skin of the chicken should be very crisp and brown. Transfer the chicken, skin side up, to an ovenproof platter and place in oven.

3. Discard all but 2 tablespoons fat from the skillet in which you cooked the chicken. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms; sauté over high heat for about 3 minutes. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper on the mushrooms and then add the wine and any liquid that has accumulated around the thighs on the platter. Cook the sauce over high heat for about 1 minute to reduce liquid.

4. To serve, divide the sauce among 4 plates. Place thigh in the middle of mushroom sauce on each plate, spoon some sauce over and sprinkle on chives and serve.

Nutrition information (per serving): 330 calories (46 percent from fat), 17 g fat, 4.1 g saturated fat, 50 mg cholesterol, 31 g carbohydrates, 24 g protein, 470 mg sodium, 2 g fiber

Source: Jacques Pepin, “Jacques Pepin More Fast Food My Way” (Houghton Mifflin, $32) 

Easy Fresh Strawberry  Mousse

This Easy Fresh Strawberry Mousse is made with only 3 ingredients, no gelatin and no bake.  The perfect creamy fluffy Mousse dessert.  A delicious dessert to serve at any occasion.  

Prep Time  10 mins chilling time1 hr Total Time10 mins

Course: DessertCuisine: American Servings: 4 servings Calories: 330kcal Author: Rosemary Molloy

Ingredients

• 12 1/2 ounces strawberries (3/4 pound)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup whole or whipping cream (cold)
• extra strawberries for topping

Instructions

• Clean and slice the strawberries, In a blender or food processor add the sliced strawberries and the sugar and puree.  Remove 1/2 a cup of puree and set aside.
  
• In a cold bowl add the cream and beat until stiff peaks form.  Then fold in the remaining puree (not the 1/2 cup) gently.
  
• Divide the 1/2 cup of puree between the 4 small/medium** glasses and top with the strawberry mousse.  Refrigerate for approximately 1 hour or even over night if desired.  Top with fresh sliced strawberries and serve.  Enjoy.
  
• ** for size purposes, the glasses I used hold 1 cup of water.
  

Notes

For anyone wanting to use this as a filling (eg pie or cake), this might help, whip the cream until soft peaks form, then in a small pot add 1 tablespoon of water and sprinkle the teaspoon of gelatine on top, let stand one minute, then place the pot on low heat and heat just until the gelatine has dissolved whisk until smooth, do not boil, then immediately remove from heat. Pour the gelatine (slightly cooled but not thickened if it does thicken too much then warm it up again) into the cream and continue to whip until firm peaks form, then continue with the recipe.

Strawberry mousse

 13 oz strawberries cleaned, stemmed and chopped.  Add to blender with 1/2 cup sugar and puree. Reserve 1/2 cup.  Beat 1 cup whipping cream to stiff peaks, fold in the puree.  Put  the 1/2 c.  reserved puree into 4 glasses, top with whipped cream puree in top and refrigerate at least 1 hour.  Top with more chopped strawberries.

Charlies Birthday

Beef short ribs and pork baby back ribs, both grilled Korean style. Both recipes posted previously under Kalbi or galbi.